Private Equity and Market Competition: Analysis Using PitchBook Data
Advisor: Dorothee Kapelari, MSc.
Type: Master's Thesis
Start: asap (June 2025)
Overview
Market competition plays a crucial role in shaping private equity (PE) deal dynamics, yet empirical insights into the competitive landscape at the deal level remain limited. This thesis aims to examine how competition intensity varies across markets and its implications for private equity investment strategies.
Leveraging the comprehensive PitchBook dataset, this thesis involves conducting a mapping exercise to identify relevant market participants and subsequently calculate competition intensity measures. These measures will be jointly developed with the chair, forming the empirical foundation for an in-depth analysis of deal characteristics and outcomes across the PitchBook universe.
Objective
- Conduct a mapping exercise to identify relevant market actors.
- Quantitatively analyze the relationship between competition levels and PE deals.
- Generate insights into how competition shapes value creation opportunities in private equity.
Requirements
- Strong interest in Private Equity, Market Structure, and Empirical Research
- Ability to work with large datasets and conduct quantitative analyses (Excel, Python, or Stata experience preferred)
- Comfort with academic research databases (e.g., Pitchbook)
- Familiarity with private equity market dynamics and key financial concepts
Supervision & Support
- Guidance on data handling and competition metric development
- Feedback on research structure, empirical strategy, and interpretation of results
Contact & Application
If you are interested in writing your thesis on this topic, please indicate this in your application. Please note that this topic can be expanded and/or taken in other directions depending on the student's own interests and ideas.